John 20:1-18

Jottings on John…Easter Day…Revised 2018. 

Easter Day falling on April 1st this year reminds us we are ‘fools for Christ’s sake’.

That God has the imagination to raise Jesus the Christ from what His people, &, notably, their leaders, have done to Him, invites us to use our imagination too in our preaching. Imagination may not be on Paul’s list of spiritual gifts, but who can deny it is one?!

Finding the raised Christ can be a very elusive business in any half-light in which we go looking for Him. Mary M is first to be baffled, then at her behest, Peter, & the ‘other disciple Jesus loved’. (Surely, He loves all of them?) The two respond to Mary’s angst, one reaching the tomb just ahead of the other as it happens. This ‘other disciple’ appears to take in the truth of what’s taken place sooner than Peter; even though the latter, typically impulsively, has gone into the tomb first. After these two have gone home, rather chastened, one suspects, Mary M, who’s returned to the tomb with them, remains. In turn she meets up with two angels, then unwittingly, with Jesus Himself. 

Our trio, &, later, other disciples, may imaginatively represent stages of belief some others have reached, or still suffer angst over on the way to reaching a discipleship raised with Jesus. Why not imagine & explore such possibilities:

Darkness, or even half-light is no substitute for the Light Christ is in Himself   & by His Spirit when we find Him raised & able to raise us with Him.

Someone telling us, or even speculating Jesus is raised, is no substitute for meeting Him personally. 

How thoroughly are we seeking? Fleetingly? Haphazardly (as I might look for a ‘lost’ sock!)? Persistently? Theologically? Or, most important, expectantly.? Always be on the look-out for angels, whatever their guise. They are always pointing us in the direction of the raised Christ.

Are we searching in company, within the Body? God is no solitary. Any more than a person raised with Christ can be one.

As the stories of the raised Christ develop over the days & weeks & more, some angst continues. But the more Jesus-raised-from-the-dead stories are shared, the more all the dots are joined, the more belief & joy break through in the reality of the communal experience. As joy, in the Person of & Presence of the Raised Christ Himself, takes over their company. As He needs to take over ours today.